Campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said on December 21, "Hell no. Hillary Clinton will not be apologizing to Donald Trump for correctly pointing out how his hateful rhetoric only helps ISIS recruit more terrorists." Earlier, Trump had demanded an apology from Democratic frontrunner Clinton for suggesting he is a recruiter for the Islamic State. On NBC’s “The Today Show,” Trump said "I will demand an apology from Hillary, she should apologize. She lies about emails, she lies about Whitewater, she lies about everything. She will be a disaster as President of the United States."

It was during the December 19 Democratic debate that Clinton said, “[Americans] need to make sure that the really discriminatory messages that Trump is sending around the world don't fall on receptive ears. He is becoming ISIS's best recruiter. They are going to people, showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.”

In the hours after the evening debate, the Clinton camp struggled to find the evidence to back up the claims of the former Secretary of State. A spokeswoman said that the campaign does not have a specific video of ISIS using clips of Trump alleged disparagement of Muslims. Instead, she pointed to social media comments from recruiters for the Islamic State. However, the Reality Check Team at CNN found nothing to support the claim of an ISIS video showing Trump. However, Spero News located a video that includes Bill Clinton in an ISIS recruitment video.

On the morning of December 20, Clinton's communications director Jennifer Palmieri sought to re-direct criticisms of Clinton’s claim, conceding: "She didn't have a particular video in mind." She added that Trump is being used in social media efforts by extremists, generally.

Social media exploded with comments on the exchange, prompting Republican candidate Jeb Bush to say in a radio interview, "Hillary Clinton suggesting that Donald Trump is being used in an ISIS recruiting video, man, talk about chutzpah."